Author Topic: SoundKitchen Recording Studio (Read 25350 times)

abyssinianson · « **Reply #75 on:** April 01, 2006, 01:34:29 PM »

yeah - i would be interested in hearing how an RE-20 compares to something like a KSM because I can easily find an RE and wouldnt mind having something like it for variety in my mixes even though I don't do voiceovers at all.

yep..that HD space does go fast. I have a 250GB for Audio and another 250GB for Video stuff and I make it a point to clean it out regularly, archiving completed projects as I go along.

KitC · « **Reply #76 on:** April 01, 2006, 05:51:32 PM »

I think the RE-20 is great for those 'voice-of-God' types of voice-overs. Another great mic I've been told are those Shure SM-7's used also in DJ booths. The RE or SM-7 used in conjunction with a Peavey Kosmos or the Aphex Exciter with the Big Bottom would probably give you a huge sound.

abyss, do you save to external HD? I know of some studios who have caddy-mounted HDs that can be pulled out whenever the data HD becomes full. Since SATA drives are hot-swappable, I was wondering if there were those 5 1/4 pull out trays that use SATA drives in your neck of the woods. The ones I've seen here are PATA.

abyssinianson · « **Reply #77 on:** April 01, 2006, 07:11:48 PM »

actually, I don't have an external HD. I separate SATA drives for media projects that I keep my music/ video project stuff on then I just archive those to DVD media once the project is done. I know they have hot swappable drives but I've never actually looked into them. The studios I've been in have networked drives (servers) that permanently archives stuff from sessions in addition to hard media backups.

Since I don't do very many projects, I opted for direct hard backups once I complete my projects. However, I have been thinking about setting up a personal server such as a Mirra server for accessing my files offsite such as session files and other things. After having worked in research for a while, I've come to trust hard backup copies as the only sure-fire backups for my projects but even then, you still have to make sure the session DVD burn went ok. I try and never assume my CD/ DVD burns went well so I always make sure I verify the burn after the main burning session is done.

KitC · « **Reply #78 on:** April 01, 2006, 07:39:27 PM »

Same here. I always verify after a burn, and I don't use generic media for critical data. I've grown partial to Taiyo Yuden, TDK and Verbatim media over the years, but it's only now I'm going into DVD because of the promise of dual layer (even though the media is still rare). I'm actually thinking of getting those lightscribe drives because they're getting cheap.

One thing I NEVER use are those stick-on labels. I've found out that some shrink over time, ruining the aluminum reflective layer making the discs unusable while those cheap paper labels probably haven't had the bleaching acid washed out from them. You can see the acid eating out the aluminum layer. This is the main reason why I'm going lightscribe.

starfugger · « **Reply #79 on:** April 01, 2006, 08:21:57 PM »

ok, so i got a 250 Gig HD a while ago bt i havent installed yet. m too tired for that now.

Kit, what would be the most powerful AMD specs that you can recommend? you think i can FXTeleport and intel box and an AMD box? thanks.

about CD's. Buyer beware. i agree with KitC. those stick on labels can ruin your CD AND your drive as well. they peel off, or sometimes form bubbles. not good. for labeling i use a casio thermal printer.

Hazel

abyssinianson · « **Reply #80 on:** April 01, 2006, 09:45:13 PM »

ah - so using those label things are pretty dangerous huh? Good thing I never got into them then:) I actually just have a trusty CD label pen (black and blue) and a log sheet for all the tracks in the CD as well as other info such as miscellaneous settings for the mixer, plugs and any weird plug-in arrangement I may have used to get a special sound. Thank god they have save mixer settings on DAW sequencers these days, otherwise, imagine saving all your mixer settings on paper!

KitC · « **Reply #81 on:** April 02, 2006, 12:09:35 AM »

Quote from: starfugger

Kit, what would be the most powerful AMD specs that you can recommend? you think i can FXTeleport and intel box and an AMD box? thanks.

I highly recommend an Nforce3 mobo but if you intend to stick the UAD into 1, go for an Intel board for now. The 2 N3 mobos I prefer are MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum and the Gigabyte K8NS Ultra 939. Although I use the MSI, I'd go for the Gigabyte because of it's 1394b Firewire standard - fits the Fireface to a 'T' (or should it be'F'?). An alternative to the 2 would be an Asus A8V based on the K8T800 chipset, quite stable for DAW use although I never saw that mobo marketed here. All of the above require 939-pin based cpus and can accomodate dual cores. Bear in mind that all these mobos are no longer in production although there are still a few floating around out there. Another alternative is the Uli 1689-based chipset; Asus and MSI make mobos based on those but all I see here are based on the 754 pin cpu - you don't want that since the 754 is discontinued. UPDATE: For the Uli, you want something with a 1695 chipset, like this.

Recommended cpus are Athlon 64 3500+ and above for single core while 3800+ and above for dual. The sweetspot for the dual is the 4200+ in terms of price and power. Now if you can manage to get a hold of some dual core Opterons, the 165 and 175 are very much recommended.

Bear in mind that AMD is coming out in June with a new chipset called the M2 which can accomodate the newer DDR2 memory. These have bus speeds that can do the 1.066 GHz mobos abyss was talking about. EDIT: I forgot to mention that I'm operating my N3 Neo2 Platinum at 1.0 GHz Hypertransport bus.

For Intel mobos, always choose a 955X chipset. I think the 975X chipset is DDR2 also so you might want to consider that for commonality of ram between 2 sets of computers. I'd always go for an Intel built mobo but I haven't had probs with Asus either.

I don't see probs if you want to FXTeleport an AMD and Intel machine since FXTeleport is practically an ethernet protocol. What you would really want is for both mobos to be Gigabit-ethernet ready. Audio over ethernet does take some serious bandwidth and although the standard 100 megabit ethernet is OK, you'd be flying with gigabit. Most of the top-of-the line mobos offer that feature.

Hazel, if you need help spec'ing out an AMD machine, I'd be happy to assist you. For Intel mobos, you might have to order from Newegg or similar due to lack of local chipset models as well as cpus.

abyssinianson · « **Reply #82 on:** April 02, 2006, 08:56:13 AM »

Hmm...Hazel, Kit...do keep updates on the FX Teleport option as I am interested in this also but I unfortunately know very little about it and I know even less about who actually has hands-on experience with the protocol. If this can free a bulk of my resources by allocating VSTis on my Cubase / Nuendo rig to a separate machine, then that would be an option to look into for the future. Right now, I am fine because I bounce a lot of the MIDI corrected files to audio after I time correct it, however, backtracking with VST's is a bit cumbersome when you are working with a lot of tracks as you guys may know:)

My Asus mobo right now has an 800 bus but I can only imagine the power I may be able to take advantage of if I get a 1.066 bus board with an upgraded processor and a great set of DDR2s. If I do upgrade soon I wiwll most likely stick with Intel since I have had good experiences with it so, as the old adage goes, if it aint broke don't fix it.

starfugger · « **Reply #83 on:** April 02, 2006, 12:44:01 PM »

thanks so much Kit. my hunt begins next week as i have a lot of work to do (PAINFULLY) this week. Lord, Abyss, backtracking is HELL. at worst, id have 6 DAW files of the same song in one folder. something to this effect:

ordeal.cpr
1ordealmix.cpr
2ordealbounceddrums.cpr
3ordealbounceddistortion.cpr
ad infinitum

i can't keep working this way. i need one powerful pc to plug in 36 inserts of the heaviest IR and UAD plugs in the face of the planet. i exagerate of course. but it'd be swell if that was possible at all. of course we bus fx and all, but i really really gotta insert plugs.

abyss, they say fxteleport is one of the solutions. one guy actually said he had hooked up 7 computers via fxteleport and wrote a whole orchestral arrangement or something using gigastudio and vsti's.

the whole thing sounded like God according to him (why the obsession in sounding like God?!). glitch-free. it's worth looking into.

all this technotalk. i can't even hook up the freaking HD i bought yesterday. my nerves are shot ... ok. the master disk goes to the black connector right? and then the slave is hooked up using the gray connector which is closer to the blue connector hooked up in the mother board (as tthe IDE cable has two connectors). ok. i jumpered the 250 gig drive to cable select (no jumper settings for slave was indicated -- only master/slave off, cable select, and disable large something). ok so that went well. booted up. i see the HD during start up. BIOS had detected it as slave. nice. windows opens up. it doesnt show up in My Computer. hmm. right click my computer> device manager,>hard disks> there it is, on top of the master 40 gig drive. hmm. wazzup? so i tried all jumper settings except master (which isn't what i want). still no go. i tried to take out the jumper. zilch. i wanted to do a hand stand while singing Baba Black sheep at the top of my lungs just to see if that might work but my voice isn't at its diva best.

any idea guys? i got this off the net: run>compmgmt.msc>storage>disk management>right click hard drive>format. i'll give it a shot. hope that works.

btw, do you guys have an idea how much it costs to send say a UAD card through johnny air? it sells for only 350 usd on ebay. abyss, btw, why not a project pak instead of a studio pak (as the project pak is the cheapest)?

thanks guys.

KitC · « **Reply #84 on:** April 02, 2006, 02:26:45 PM »

I think Hans Zimmer is the guy who runs the computer farm. He's using the EWSQ Orchestral series as well as the entire Garritan collection from what I've read.

If I read your HD right, leave the jumpers disconnected to set it to slave and put it on the same cable as you master drive. Typically, you want your HD's to go on IDE bus 0 while the CD/DVD burner is preferably the master on the other bus; you don't want the HD to share a cable with the burner because burners usually slow down the bus speed. If you have SATA, I suggest using busses 3 & 4 before connecting to 1 & 2.

Typically, Disk Management is accessed from Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management. I wish I knew what mobo you're using so I can check the IDE port assignments though I wonder why the no jumper setting caused a disappearing act. What HD did you get, anyway?

abyssinianson · « **Reply #85 on:** April 02, 2006, 02:45:11 PM »

holy crap! 7 PCs? Man, if he can run that many PCs on something as system taxing as gigastudio, then FX teleport should do wonders for me. However, I am only planning on running a second PC for heavier VSTis. My HD rig doesn't have this problem because there are not very many TDM plugs available so it works out well that I don't get tempted to look more into VSTs. what can I say? I am a complete sucker for VSTs.

I got the Studio pack because I had some store credit and the place only had a Studio Pack in stock.

starfugger · « **Reply #86 on:** April 02, 2006, 03:14:20 PM »

hehe. comp management worked.

thanks kit. your advice about the pc should give me an idea where to look.

@abyss, i had the same reaction. lol

starfugger · « **Reply #87 on:** April 02, 2006, 03:24:50 PM »

btw, Kit, the HD is a 7200 seagate barracuda. thanks.

KitC · « **Reply #88 on:** April 02, 2006, 10:49:05 PM »

Hmmm... I've always wondered how long it takes to defrag 250 gigs.

glassjaw_jc · « **Reply #89 on:** April 03, 2006, 09:39:13 AM »

enough to read through a newspaper, if it's at half full.

BAMF · « **Reply #90 on:** April 03, 2006, 11:02:00 AM »

When our bassist gets here from Singapore and we walk back into the Soundkitchen to finish our album, and if you haven't installed the HD yet, our drummer can help you install the HD.

Can't wait. The mix of our first song you did made me sound like God (nyahehehe private joke). Don't tell your pop that I said that ooops.

abyssinianson · « **Reply #91 on:** April 03, 2006, 11:45:42 AM »

excellent - make sure to post some sound clips so we know what the new stuff is like in action:)

KitC · « **Reply #92 on:** April 03, 2006, 11:45:58 AM »

Quote from: glassjaw_jc

enough to read through a newspaper, if it's at half full.

You sure about that? I have an 80 gig drive partitioned to two 40 gigs (actually about 39 & 37 something gigs because of overhead), and it took one partition about an hour to defrag. The partition with the swapfile usually gets highly fragmented. Doing a LOT of edits on an audio file will seriously fragment the data drive that's why it's usually recommended to defrag before a session. Eventually, I'll set up a RAID 1 system so that I don't easily lose any data. Makes me scared to defrag my 160 gig data drive because I didn't partition that one.

Btw, Hazel, I hope you have a UPS powering your system. I can't tell you how much my APC has saved countless hours of work.

EDIT: HA! The swearbot edited out p.a.r.t.i.t.i.o.n

BAMF · « **Reply #93 on:** April 03, 2006, 11:59:50 AM »

Meron kasing t.i.t.i sa word na yun eh nyahehehe

KitC · « **Reply #94 on:** April 03, 2006, 12:17:49 PM »

Quote from: BAMF

Meron kasing t.i.t.i sa word na yun eh nyahehehe

I know. Pero kapag nakikipag-usap ako sayo, bakit lang edit? unfair naman, hehe...

Dapat i-update nila mga swearbots. You should check out Profanisaurus, as in thesaurus. Here's a new one:

"rectoplasm n.
Something that comes out of your bum which is so scary it makes you shyte yourself.

glassjaw_jc · « **Reply #95 on:** April 03, 2006, 12:21:02 PM »

Quote from: KitC

Quote from: glassjaw_jc
enough to read through a newspaper, if it's at half full.

You sure about that? I have an 80 gig drive **** to two 40 gigs (actually about 39 & 37 something gigs because of overhead), and it took one **** about an hour to defrag. The **** with the swapfile usually gets highly fragmented. Doing a LOT of edits on an audio file will seriously fragment the data drive that's why it's usually recommended to defrag before a session. Eventually, I'll set up a RAID 1 system so that I don't easily lose any data. Makes me scared to defrag my 160 gig data drive because I didn't **** that one.

Btw, Hazel, I hope you have a UPS powering your system. I can't tell you how much my APC has saved countless hours of work.

EDIT: HA! The swearbot edited out p.a.r.t.i.t.i.o.n

sabagay, mabigat nga magdefrag. but I can defrag my almost full 60GB in under an hour. siguro nga masyadong defragmented dahil for audio use. meron naman ako 20GB dati na halos 1 hr madefrag.

abyssinianson · « **Reply #96 on:** April 03, 2006, 12:27:47 PM »

excellent - make sure to post some sound clips so we know what the new stuff is like in action:) but even with my 200+ GB drives in array, it doesnt take that long to defreag them all (1.25 terbyte array)..maybe 45 minutes at the most and that includes me dilly dallying.

starfugger · « **Reply #97 on:** April 03, 2006, 08:43:06 PM »

you guys are hilarious.

im glad the compmanagement worked. i had enough hair left at least.

yes i intend to get an apc soon. very very important especially when updating firmware. someone mentioned that the rme can get seriously and permanently damaged in case of power outage during firmware update. this could be true as i know for a fact that the roland will definitely croak under this condition. and it's not the kind of problem that can easily be fixed. they usally replace the whole board or something, which is almost like buying a new unit.

BAMF i have the remix coming soon

it took a while to format. i didn't par.t.i.t.ion (although i think i should have) because i didn't have the time to figger out the most efficient sizes. formating the whole 250 gigabytes costed me 18 gigs! i don't know where all that space went. the total unused space amounted to 232.something gig. hmm. do you guys partion a drive this large?

soundclips coming very soon abyss. im still figgering out which goes where. hehe.

BAMF · « **Reply #98 on:** April 04, 2006, 02:01:26 AM »

Quote from: starfugger

you guys are hilarious.

im glad the compmanagement worked. i had enough hair left at least.

yes i intend to get an apc soon. very very important especially when updating firmware. someone mentioned that the rme can get seriously and permanently damaged in case of power outage during firmware update. this could be true as i know for a fact that the roland will definitely croak under this condition. and it's not the kind of problem that can easily be fixed. they usally replace the whole board or something, which is almost like buying a new unit.

BAMF i have the remix coming soon

it took a while to format. i didn't par.t.i.t.ion (although i think i should have) because i didn't have the time to figger out the most efficient sizes. formating the whole 250 gigabytes costed me 18 gigs! i don't know where all that space went. the total unused space amounted to 232.something gig. hmm. do you guys partion a drive this large?

soundclips coming very soon abyss. im still figgering out which goes where. hehe.

NTFS (the native file system of Windows XP) has very high overhead which it uses for some neat stuff like password-protecting folders and stuff like that. It's also more robust than FAT32, data-wise. Slower albeit, weighed down by its features.

If you're using your HD merely as a TEMP (oh no!!!) you could consider using FAT32 for speed and low overhead. BUT IMHO...I guess 18 Gigs is a small price to pay for data integrity.

KitC · « **Reply #99 on:** April 04, 2006, 03:01:23 AM »

Actually, you have to differentiate how marketing and engineering approach a 'byte'.

Normally, we equate numerical prefixes such as mega- and giga- to the decimal system where mega is 1 million or 1,000,000, while giga is 1 billion or 1,000,000,000. Bytes, however, are based on the binary system.

Since binary is base-2, someone decided that a kilo (which should be 1000) could be expressed as 2^10 or 1024, which is close to a thousand; that became the basis for a kilobyte.

Things just sort of grew from there where a megabyte, which is actually a thousand kilobytes, was expressed as 1024 x 1024= 1,048,576 bytes. A gigabyte then becomes 1,073,741,824... ang gulo, no?

Here's where it gets tricky. For marketing, a thousand bytes IS a thousand bytes; 1000, NOT 1024. A 250 gig HD will give you exactly (or close to) 250,000,000,000 bytes, no more. Divide that by 1,073,741,824.... it equals 232.830 gigs. Makes you feel kinda shortchanged, di ba?

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Author Topic: SoundKitchen Recording Studio (Read 25350 times)